Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham blow as €35m striker target ‘agrees’ to sign for European club – ‘it’s done’ | OneFootball

Elye Wahi in action for Montpellier.

According to reports, Montpellier forward Elye Wahi has ‘agreed’ to sign for Ligue Un outfit RC Lens despite interest from Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Wahi has been on the radar of several clubs around Europe this summer after he shone for Montpellier during the 2022/23 campaign.

After he netted ten league goals in 2021/22, he scored 19 goals in 33 appearances last season as he was among the leading scores in Ligue Un.

Chelsea and Tottenham are in the market for a new striker after Christopher Nkunku’s injury and Harry Kane’s transfer to Bayern Munich. The two London clubs have been linked with Wahi in recent weeks.

But more recently, it’s been reported that West Ham United are more likely to sign the young forward, who has been left out of Montpellier’s squad for this weekend’s game against Lyon.

The Hammers have endured a difficult summer and they have now been dealt a fresh blow as – according to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano – they have missed out on Wahi.

He tweeted: “Elye Wahi to RC Lens, here we go! Deal in place for €35m package as reported by French sources — it’s done between clubs.”

“Personal terms agreed on five-year deal with medical tests booked later today. Several clubs wanted Wahi but he’ll play UCL football at Lens.”

West Ham will not be signing Wahi, but they could opt to give a contract to former Man Utd player Jesse Lingard, who has been training with the Hammers following his exit from Nottingham Forest.

David Moyes has told reporters that Lingard will be with the squad for training next week but they have “not considered a deal” yet.

“We’ve not even considered a deal at the moment,” said Moyes. “He’s in training to see if we can get him back fit and get him in decent condition.

“He’ll be back here next week as well. There’s no news on that as far as short-term deals or anything else.

“Jesse’s a good player, probably needing to get himself in the correct condition. We’re working on him, all players tend to need four or five weeks pre-season and Jesse’s no different from anybody else.”

When asked if summer signings Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse will be fit to face Chelsea this weekend, he added: “Alvarez is only just back.

“We got him in the middle of last week when he started training. He had no training for three weeks.

“It wasn’t as if he was back at Ajax, whereas James Ward-Prowse has been back training all the way through with Southampton and played games already. He is much more ready.”